Anna Patterson Feminist theater can be defined as theatrical works that emphasize women’s issues, whether those issues are political, social, and economic. Feminist theater has been most prevalent in recent history as it gave a voice and force behind the waves of feminism that have defined the 20th and 21st centuries. Beginning even before women had the right to vote, feminist theater brought women’s rights to the public in an unique way. However, feminist theater as a genre did not take root until the 1970’s. The idea that women’s political, social, and sexual lives had long been oppressed by a patriarchal society acted as the driving force for this movement.
Trifles fits into the genre of feminist theater. It was written in 1916, even before the Suffragette movement won women the right to vote. Although it was written early on in the feminist movement, it has a direct correlation with the feminist movement of the 1970’s and beyond in this: the women are depicted as more capable and intelligent than the men. In the play the women act completely independent of the men, and this leads them to discover the motive behind the murder. They are intelligent enough to see the patterns in the details, while the men overlook everything that would point to the motive. In the end, the women make the judgment call to withhold the evidence, the bird, despite what the judicial system would demand. They become the judicial system in the story, and only the audience can judge whether they make the right decision or not.
Feminist theater can be defined as theatrical works that emphasize women’s issues, whether those issues are political, social, and economic. Feminist theater has been most prevalent in recent history as it gave a voice and force behind the waves of feminism that have defined the 20th and 21st centuries. Beginning even before women had the right to vote, feminist theater brought women’s rights to the public in an unique way. However, feminist theater as a genre did not take root until the 1970’s. The idea that women’s political, social, and sexual lives had long been oppressed by a patriarchal society acted as the driving force for this movement.
Trifles fits into the genre of feminist theater. It was written in 1916, even before the Suffragette movement won women the right to vote. Although it was written early on in the feminist movement, it has a direct correlation with the feminist movement of the 1970’s and beyond in this: the women are depicted as more capable and intelligent than the men. In the play the women act completely independent of the men, and this leads them to discover the motive behind the murder. They are intelligent enough to see the patterns in the details, while the men overlook everything that would point to the motive. In the end, the women make the judgment call to withhold the evidence, the bird, despite what the judicial system would demand. They become the judicial system in the story, and only the audience can judge whether they make the right decision or not.